Letter-box



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER L. 1vIITon nLL, or ORLAND, ILLINOIS.

LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,465, dated June 13, 1893.

' Application filed October 5, 1892. Serial No. 447,897. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

a citizen of the United States of America, re-

' siding at Orland, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Letter-Boxes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference thereon,

forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the letter box. Fig. 2isacentralverticalsection of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the detachable back of the letter box having the bottom of the box hinged thereto, and adapted tobe secured to a building or other object and Fig.

4 is a horizontal section of Fig. 1, looking down, taken on line 1, and shown as secured to a building or other object.

This invention relates to certain improvements in letter boxes for use in receiving mail matter, and is designed to be secured to the side of a building, desk, or other desirable place.

Referring to the drawings A represents the front and sides and upper end of the letter box, the upper end being provided with the slot S for receiving mail matter into thebox.

D is a cover, hinged to the top of the box A at its front side by means of the lugs rand shaft 0 passing through the extending ends of the side flanges of said cover and said lugs, and his a coil spring on said shaft and engaging said cover in such manner as to hold said cover closed over the upper end of the box A to cover up slot S and exclude rain or other material when not open to receive mail.

E is a card detachably secured to the inner side of said cover by means of the cleats o, c, or by any other means, and is for the purpose of having the names placed on it of all persons whose mail matter is to be put in said box. I

H is the back of the letter box, or of its front A, and F is the bottom of the box and secured thereto by being hinged to the lower end of the back by means of the spring hinge X, which permits said bottom to be let down as shown in broken lines in Fig. 2, and which serves to hold said bottom up as shown in full lines in said figure. Said bottom is provided at its forward side with the aperture jm for receiving the depending lug z of the front part of box A. Said lug z is also provided with an aperture to receive the shackle of a padlock by means of which the bottom F is locked to the box. .Mail matter is taken from thebox by first unlocking said bottom, and then turning it down as shown in the broken lines in Fig. 2. The back H is designed to be attached to a building or other object R, by means of screws to. w. and its sides are formed as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 so as to enter and slide in grooves in either side of the box formed by the projecting ribs J. The back being first secured to the wall bymeans of the screws to, the box A is attached thereto by placing the side edges of theback in the said grooves in the sides of box A, and the box is then moved down until the upperend of said back strikes the under side of the top of said 7 the box A, the box A cannot be removed from the back H, and the back H cannot be removed from the wall R, as the screws to are within the box and cannot be removed unless the part A is removed. This is one of the novel features in this invention, as it prevents the letter box from being stolen or removed wit-hout much trouble and liability of destroying it.

B is a wire paper clamp attached to the letter box for holding newspapers, parcels, &c. The particular form of this clamp is shown in Fig. 1. Each upper end is pivotally attached, one at either side of the box at a, and extends beyond said point of pivot to rest against an extending lug c, of the box so as to cause the parts of said clamp between said points of pivot to be spring pressed against the front of the box as shown in Fig. 1. The body portion of said clamp is bent so as to form the two upwardly extending loops B, and the three downwardly extending loops B and B Papers are intended to be placed in the hollows of the loops B and the resiliency ofthe-spring in said clamp will cause said. clamp to hold papers clamped tightly to the face or front of the box so that they cannot fall out or be blown away.

Having thus described my invention, what ICO I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows, to wit:

1. A letter box comprising the back H adapted to be secured to a building or other object, a lock door hinged to its lower end, a spring for holding said door closed, a detachable box having grooves on its respective inner sides for the reception of said back and having a letter slot in its top, a door hinged to the upper part of the box and adapted to carry a removable card on its inner side, a spring for holding said door closed over said letter slot, and a wire paper clamp or holder pivotally attached to the sides of the letter box, and having its upper ends extending beyond said point of pivot to form a spring for clamping the body of said holder to the front of the box,

all combined and arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A letter box having a back adapted to be secured to a building or other object by means of screws or bolts through its part within the box, and detachably connected to the front of the box by means of its side edges entering grooves in the inner sides of the box, and a spring door hinged to the lower end of the back and adapted to be locked to the front of the box all combined and arranged to operate substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

OLIVER L. MITCHELL.

Witn esses:

THOS. I-I. HUTCHINS, CHARLIE GoTTs. 

